Subterra Heart

Chapter 47: Marina Ritty

It was some time before the sisters managed to dislodge the grate. Tess was getting frustrated and impatient, but Marina had struggled to lift her. And when they swapped roles so that Marina sat on Tess's shoulders instead, she still had difficulty moving the grate. But it was not impossible.

"There! Ha!" exclaimed Marina once she finally managed to shove the grate away from the sewage entrance. They were beyond lucky that it hadn't been bolted down. Breathing heavily, she gripped the stone floor above. Tess grabbed her ankles to help push Marina up and out of the sewer. Marina kicked Tess in the face by accident.

"Ow! Marina!" hissed Tess.

"I'm sorry – this is a bit difficult in a dress," Marina shot back. She managed to roll onto the ground, and then leaned back into the hole to pull Tess up too. Tess's weight very nearly dragged Marina straight back down, but somehow, both sisters eventually managed to make it out of the sewer.

It took Marina a moment to take in their surroundings. They were in a wide, arched cellar. Wine casks lined the walls, as did thick cobwebs. The floor was cold under her bare feet – she had discarded her heels a while ago – but at least it was dry. There appeared to be no electrical lighting, so Marina's vision was limited only to what the light from her shae band could reach. And from what she saw, it appeared as if no one had visited this room in a very long time.

"Where are we?" she asked, quietly.

Tess adjusted her backpack and flicked dark sludge from her sleeve. "Lenny's basement," she answered.

"His basement?" hissed Marina.

"Yes, his basement – what did you expect? That we could just waltz up to the front door and say 'Oh hi, Mr. Rocha, can Connor come out and play now? Sorry about that goon you set on us earlier. He got kinda sleepy and had to take a little nappy nap.' Do you really think that would have gone over well?"

"Spare me your snark, Tess," snapped Marina.

Tess snorted and fiddled with the shoulder straps of her backpack. "It's his second basement, actually," she added. "This room wasn't originally part of his apartment. It got coopted in a couple hundred years ago. I'm still not really sure why or what its purpose was, but it was being used as a wine cellar back when Nelda Crane owned this place." She gave one of the broken wine casks a light, thoughtful nudge with her foot and muttered, "Looks like her favorite vintage is still here. I guess Lenny hasn't made a whole ton of changes then."

Marina frowned. Nelda Crane? This was the second time that she'd heard her sister mention that name. She still did not understand this...this idea that Tess's mind was now filled with foreign memories. Every time that it was mentioned, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up straight.

"Tess," she said quietly, but before Marina could add anything further, Tess shrugged off her backpack and let it drop to the ground. Bastet hissed unhappily from within.

"What was that forrrr, human?"

"Marina and I need a quick sister-conference. Just some boy-talk – we'll be right back," quipped Tess. She grabbed Marina's wrist and dragged her across the room, through a thick wood door which she promptly slammed behind them, and halfway up a stone staircase. By the time they finally stopped, Marina's head was spinning from the sudden announcement and change in scenery. She gawked at her sister.

"What the – Tess, what in Founders' names –" she sputtered, but Tess clamped a hand over her mouth, hushing her.

"Shhh – Bastet can probably still hear us even from here, but I can't risk just leaving her somewhere far away," whispered Tess so quietly that Marina strained to hear her.